Feeding devices for record card machines



Feb. 10, 1959 MAUL 2,873,114

FEEDING DEVICES FOR RECORD CARD MACHINES Filed July 19. 1954 3Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. l w t OlawL Mau S. i /44f Hirer/1e Feb. 10,1959 MAUL 2,873,114

FEEDING DEVICES FOR RECORD CARD MACHINES Filed July 19, 1954 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 10, 1959 M. MAUL 2,873,114

FEEDING DEVICES FOR RECORD CARD MACHINES Filed July 19, 1954 5Sheets-Sheet 3 FI6.7 E

W2 u. WEE A Q g i as 57 a9 u 9/ =11 1 94 U 94 I, a r 1 1 1 INVEXTOK4414441. //1.-,.V( BY United States Patent 2,873,114 FEEDING DEVICES FORRECORD CARD MACHINES Michael Maul, Schwabach, near Nuruberg, GermanyApplication July 19, 1954, Serial No. 444,279 14 Claims. (Cl. 270-58) Inrecord card machines, such as in punched card controlled machines,feeding devices are provided by means of which the cards are fed alongtheir card feeding path from a magazine to a receiving pocket. On their'way from the magazine to the receiving pocket the cards are fed pastanalyzing devices, which analyze the controlling index marks of thecards (for instance holes), and which control accumulators or printingmechanisms according to the result of the analysis. The analysis may,however, also be effected merely for the purpose of comparing theperforations of different cards, or a punching means may be arranged inthe card feeding path, subsequently providing the controlling cards witha perforation.

Now, it occurs in such machines that cards are mechanically advancedfrom two different magazines, said cards either having to be depositedin two separate receiving pockets or having to be interpolated accordingto certain points of view and in accordance with the result of thecomparing analysis, and which then have to be deposited into a singlecommon pocket, designated as the interpolating pocket. Such a machine isfor instance known as a card interpolator.

If in machines of the indicated type the immediate comparison of thecards is effected during their movement past a row of analyzers, forinstance past a row of analyzing brushes, this conditions the cards ofthe two stacks to be fed to their analyzing brushes in the same relativeposition so that always the same hole positions of the cards of the twokinds may be compared by the analyzing brushes simultaneously with eachother. In this arrangement, the cards of the two stacks must run pastthe analyzing brushes with the upper card edge ahead. Now, if forinstance the cards have to be fed to a common interpolating pocket inwhich they shall be deposited in corresponding positions, it isnecessary that the two magazines be arranged on the same side (eitherleft or right hand side) of the interpolating pocket. This results in avery unfavorable constructive solution for the feeding device of thecards and the associated analyzing devices, since both must be arrangedabove each other and since the lower feeding path together with itsassociated analyz ing means is not easily accessible.

These disadvantages are avoided by the device according to theinvention. The invention provides in the card feeding path a cardturning device adapted to turn the cards in the card feeding planethrough any desired angle. Thereby it becomes possible, for instance inmachines serving for interpolating tasks, to arrange each of the twomagazines on any of the two sides of the interpolating pocket and stillto comply with the just mentioned condition of the simultaneous analysisof corresponding hole positions of the cards advancing from the twomagazines but nevertheless to deposit all cards in the interpolatingpocket in the same relative position. If turning of the cards in thecard plane is effected through 180 as is the case in a preferredembodiment, the magazines may be provided on both sides of theinterpolating pocket in such way that all the card pockets as well astheir feeding devices are arranged in a straight line which results in avery pleasant appearance of the machine.

When applying the invention the cards may be deposited in the twomagazines in such manner that the upper card edge advances in .thefeeding direction, so that always 2,873,114 Patented Feb. 10, 1959 ICCidentical hole positions of the cards of the two groups of cards may beanalyzed by the analyzing means. However, as soon as comparison has beeneffected, the one card arrives under the card turner which will turn thesame in the card plane through the desired angle without reversing it,and which will then again transfer the card to the feeding device, thelatter feeding the card to the receiving pocket. After this turningmovement, the card will be in the receiving pocket in the same positionas the cards arriving from the other magazine so that, for instance, theusually cut off corners of all cards are in alinement.

The invention, however, does not only permit a constructively favorablearrangement of the supplying and analyzing means as well as an easyaccessibility of the same but contrarily to the known devices it permitsalso to construct identical supplying devices for the two card stacksand the analyzing devices, thereby reducing the manufacturing costs ofthe machine. Finally it may be added that the magazines can be arrangedby any desired angle with regard to the receiving pocket so that, forinstance, the magazines and their feeding path may be arranged at aright angle with regard to the receiving pocket and notwithstandnig thecards may be deposited in the same position relative to each other.

The inventive idea may be carried into practice in various ways. In anembodiment described hereafter, the card turning device consists of twopairs of feeding rollers rotating in opposite direction and beingequally spaced from the feeding centre line, said rollers engaging thecard as soon as the centre of the same arrives at the centre of theturning device. The rotating rollers are operatively so connected to therollers which feed the card to the rotating rollers and remove it fromthe same, that the rotating rollers engage the card shortly before thesupplying rollers are raised from the card and the removing rollersre-engage the card before it is released from the rotating rollers.

Further possible embodiments consist for instance in the arrangement ofa gripper in the card feeding path in which the card is moved, saidgripper imparting then to the card a rocking movement in the card planeand feed ing the card to the removing rollers. For instance, turningdisks which are pressed against each other as soon as the card isbetween them may be provided instead of the first mentioned rotatingrollers or of the gripper, said disks imparting then to the card therocking movement and afterwards supplying it again to the removingrollers.

If desired, also a deflector may be provided in the card feeding pathahead of the card turning device, said deflector deflecting the cardfrom the card feeding path before it is supplied to the card turner andfeeding it to a special receiving pocket. By means of this device thecard may be selectively deposited into a special receiving pocketwithout receiving a turn, or be turned and then fed into theinterpolating pocket.

The inventive device is particularly advantageous where cards are fed inopposite directions from two different magazines and where cards are tobe deposited in a common pocket in the same relative position. Theapplication of the invention is, however, not restricted to suchmachines. The invention may rather be applied wherever it is necessaryfor any reasons to deposit the cards in a position other than the onethey had when being removed from the magazine.

In the accompanying drawings some embodiments of the invention for acard turn of are illustrated, which, however, are chiefly restricted tothe design of the card turning device proper. The particular type ofmachine in which the device is applied is not referred to in detail. Thereason is that on the one hand such machines are known and on the otherhand the invention indicated machines.

Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically a machine in which cards are removed fromthe various magazines, said cards may then be deposited either commonlyin an interpolating pocket or also separately.

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically the position of the cards supplied to theinterpolating pocket from opposite sides as well as the arrangement ofthe card turner.

Fig. 3 shows in plan the card turner which is arranged in the card path.

Fig. 4 shows the rear wall of the card turner with the drive of thelatter.

Fig. 5 shows the front side of the card turner with the receiving pocketand the interpolating pocket.

Fig. 6 shows a side view from which particularly may be seen thearrangement of the turning rollers.

Fig. 7 shows in a perspective illustration an embodiment with a cardturner provided as gripper.

Fig. 8 shows in a perspective illustration a further embodiment in whichthe card turner consists of two rotating disks.

It has been assumed that the machine, diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1,is a card interpolator in which the cards from the magazine 10 shall beinterpolated between the cards from the magazine 11. The cards from thetwo magazines are fed in a known manner by feeding means past analyzingbrushes and are compared with each other. The comparison is herein of noimportance. The deposition of associated cards is elfected in theinterpolating pocket 12.

The diagram of the supply of the cards may be seen from Fig. 2. Thecards advancing from the magazine 11 run ahead with the upper edge ofthe card and are deposited in the same position in the interpolatingpocket 12 which is only diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 2, so that,accordingly, their cut off corners point down to the left. The cardsfrom the magazine 10, however, must now also be fed ahead with the cutoff corners so that the analyzing brushes may always analyze the samehole positions of the cards advancing from the two magazines. But if itwould now be attempted to interpolate in the illustrated embodiment thecards advancing from the 10-pocket without application of the cardturner, the cards in the interpolating pocket would not lie above eachother in the same position: For the cut olf corners of the cardsadvancing from the magazine 11 lie in the left lower corner of theinterpolating pocket 12 (Fig. 2) while the cut off corner of the cardsadvancing from the magazine 10 would lie in the right upper corner ofthe interpolating pocket 12. The proper position of the cards relativeto each other is, however, obtained by the card turner according to theinvention. The latter is provided behind the analyzing devices in thecard feeding path of the cards advancing from the magazine 10 and turnsthe card in the feeding path for 180 before the latter is supplied tothe interpolating pocket 12. In the latter the cards arriving from themagazine 10 will, therefore, have the same position as the cardsarriving from the magazine 11, as may also be seen from Fig. 2.

The preferred embodiment, illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6, uses two pairs ofrollers arranged symmetrically to the centre line of the card feedingpath. As soon as the card is engaged by said two pairs of rollers, theyimpart to the card a turning or rocking movement through 180 since thepairs of rollers rotate in opposite directions relatively to each other.The card is fed to the removing rollers after the 180 rotation. The cardturning device, according to Figs. 3 to 6, is constructed in detail asfollows and operates as will now be described:

After the analysis the card is supplied by means of the feed rollersprovided upon the shaft 14 (Fig. 3) to the turning device and is fed sofar until the front edge of the card has passed between the fasterrunning rollers 16.

The latter engage the card and feed the same under the pairs of turningrollers 17 and 18. The higher speed of the rollers 16 with regard to thefeed rollers 15 has been provided in order to obtain a sufficientlylarge distance from the following card and in order to prevent arelative disturbing of the cards during the turning movement.Accordingly, the rollers 16 feed the card between the pairs of turningrollers 17 and 18, and in such way that the centre of the card is underthe rollers, as may be seen from Fig. 3.

The turning device is driven through the belt disk 19 which is rigidlyconnected to the toothed sectors 21 and 22 (Figs. 4 and 6) and mountedtogether with the same upon the stud 30. The toothed sector 21 drives bymeans of the toothed wheels 23 and 26 the rollers 16 upon the shafts 24.The drive of the two turning rollers 17 is effected by the toothedsector 22 which drives the toothed wheel 27, rigidly provided upon theshaft 25. The toothed wheel 28, also fast upon the shaft 25, is engagingthe toothed wheel 29 upon the shaft 31. The two shafts 25 and 31 carryin addition the one pair of turning rollers 18. On the front side of theturning device there is provided an idle gear 33 mounted on an angle 32(Figs. 5 and 6), said gear meshing with the gear 34 being fast upon theshaft 31 and transferring the movement of the latter to the gear 36. Thelatter is fast on the sleeve 35. The gear 37, also fast on the sleeve35, will then drive the gear 39 connected to the sleeve 38. By theinsertion of an idle gear 33 it will be obtained that the sleeve 38rotates contrarily to the shaft 31, and the sleeve 35 contrarily to theshaft 25, so that the card is turned as is indicated by the arrow inFig. 3.

To avoid simultaneous engagement of the card by the feeding rollers 16and the turning rollers 17 and 18, a lifting device is provided so thatalternately the feeding rollers and then the turning rollers act on thecard. The reverse control is effected by a slide 41 (Figs. 4 and 5)provided with inclined planes and adapted for recipro eating movement inthe guiding pieces 42 and 43. A lever 45 which is fast upon the shaft 44is controlled by a cam 46, said cam being connected to the belt disk 19,synchronously with the card feed.

At the front side of the turning device there is mounted on the shaft 44a lever 47 which transfers the movement to the front slide 48 carrying astud 49 slidably guided in an elongated hole 51 of the lever 47. Lever45 has a corresponding stud, not shown, engaging a corresponding slot(not shown) in slide 41 so that slide 41 is moved by the lever 45. Thetwo levers are drawn by the springs 52 to the right of Fig. 4 and to theleft of Fig. 5, respectively, until the lever 45 engages the cam disk46. The two slides are herein carried along in accordance with the camposition. By means of the slides 41 and 48 the shaft 31 is somewhatlifted in the position shown in Fig. 4 and therewith are also lifted theupper turning rollers 17 and 18. In this position the slide has noinfluence upon the two shafts 24 with the rollers 16 so that the rollers16 are pressed against the card under spring action and then feed thecard.

If the card center is exactly between the turning rollers 17 and 18, thecam 46 will move the lever 45 and the latter will move the slide 41 tothe left (Fig. 4) while the lever 47 moves the slide 48 to the right(Fig. 5). The inclined guide faces of the two slides are arranged insuch way that during movement to the left or to the right, respectively,first the turning rollers 17 and 18 will engage the card whereuponshafts 24, and therewith the rollers 16 are raised. Now, the turningrollers will act upon the card while the rollers 16 are raised. Thisposition is shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

After completion of the turn (the sector 21 and the retating rollers 17,18 are dimensioned in such way that the card rotates exactly for the cam46 permits the lever 45 to rock to the right (Fig. 4) under the inv thelead necessary for the turning movement.

.two rotating disks 88 and 89.

fluence of spring 52. The lever 47 (Fig. rocks correspondingly to theleft. Herein, the two levers carry along with them their slides 41 or48, respectively, so that the rollers 16 lower upon the card. Shortlythereafter, the turning rollers are lifted. The upper shafts 24 as wellas shaft 31 and sleeve 38 are mounted in elongated holes of the sidewalls. and are pressed downwardly by springs which are not illustratedherein.

If it is not intended to interpolate the cards but to deposit themseparately a deflector 53 (Fig. 5) is rocked in clockwise directionabout the shaft 54 so that the cards are not supplied to the rollers 16but to the receiving pocket 13. This deflector may of course be put in aknown manner under the control of the comparing device so that dependingon the comparison the cards may be deposited selectively into any one ofthe two depositing pockets.

A further embodiment is shown in Fig. 7. The card is supplied to therollers 61, as it is indicated by the arrow. As in the above describedembodiment these rollers run faster than the regular feed rollers, inorder to obtain The lower rollers 61 are seated upon a shaft mounted inthe sidewalls while the upper rollers 61 are seated in a shaft mountedin the two levers 62. The levers 62 are mounted upon the shaft 63. Thecard is moved upon the base plate 64 of a gripper by means of therollers 61.

Shortly before the leading edge of the card engages the metal sheet 65,being slightly resilient and seated on the base plate, the upper rollers61 are lifted by means of the cams 66 and the levers 62. The cams rotatesynchronously with the card movement. The crank 67 rotates alsosynchronously with the card movement and imparts to the arm 68 upon theshaft 71 a rocking movement through the link 69. On the shaft 71 isfurther provided an arm 72 upon which is mounted the sleeve 73. Thelatter carries on its upper end the gripper 64. On the lower end of thesleeve there is fastened a toothed wheel 74 cooperating with a toothedsegment 76 which is arranged on a stationary plate 75. Now, if the arm72 turns in counter-clockwise direction, the toothed wheel 74 will turnin clockwise direction so that through sleeve 73 also the gripper isturned, and it will be seen that the extension of the rocking movementis such, that the toothed wheel 74 and the gripper perform exactly halfa revolution.

Just at the beginning of the rocking movement of the arm 72, theslightly resilient metal sheet 65 slides off the stop bar 77 and pressesthe card against the plate 64 of the gripper. Accordingly, the card istaken along and is thereby simultaneously turned through 180. At the endof the rocking movement the gripper moves the card between the rollers78 and rollers 79 which are disengaged at this moment. The shaft 81 withthe rollers 78 is mounted in the two levers 62. When the turningmovement is finished and if the card is between the rollers 78 and 79,the levers 62 slide off the cams 66 and are drawn downwardly by thesprings 82 whereupon the rollers 78 press on the card. The latter isengaged 'by the rollers 78 and 79 and is fed to the interpolatingpocket. Simultaneously therewith, the arm 72 returns again to itsinitial position and the gripper turns in counter-clockwise direction.Shortly before the end of the rocking movement the metal sheet 65engages the stop 77 and is somewhat lifted from the base plate 64 ,sothat another card can be received.

For reasons of clarity the drive of the rollers 61, 78 and 79 as well asthat of the cam disks 66 has not been illustrated.

Fig. 8 shows a third embodiment. The card is moved between the rollers86 and 87 in the direction of the arrow and is engaged by the same andfed between the Shaft 92 is movable with levers 91, and theshaft whichcarries rollers 87 is mounted on a stationary support. Levers 91 arepivotally 6 mounted in the machine frame by pins 98. When the center ofthe card is exactly between the rotating disks 88, 89, the cam diskspermit the stirrup 97 to move the levers 91 upwardly under the action ofsprings 96. Shaft 92 with the rollers 86, and a shaft 93 with therollers 94 are mounted on levers 91, and stop 99 prevents furtheradvancing of the card.

Upon its lifting movement the stirrup 97 raises the axially movablerotary disk 89 through shaft 101 so that the card is held between thetwo rotating disks 88 and 89. The lower rotating disk is rotatablymounted upon shaft 101. As soon as the card is only held by the rotatingdisks, the toothed section 102 which reciprocates once per card cyclewill engage the toothed wheel 103 whose radius is chosen in such waythat the toothed wheel 103 performs during one full reciprocation of thetoothed sector 102 half a revolution in counter-clockwise direction andthen half a revolution in clockwise direction. The shaft of gears 103,104 is turnably mounted on the machine frame. This movement istransferred through a pair of bevel gears 104, 105 to the upper rotatingdisk 88. The rotating disks turn in the feeding path and turn the cardin clockwise direction. Thereby the card is moved between the rollers 94and 106. Rollers 94 are raised at this time. Rollers 106 are turnablewith a shaft which is mounted in a stationary supporting part of themachine. When the card is between the rollers 94 and 106 the cam disks95 effect downward movementof shaft 93 with the rollers 94 by means oflevers 91, whereupon the card is gripped by the rollers 94 and rollers106, and since at the same moment the card is released by the rotatingdisks it is fed by the rollers 94 and 106 to the receiving pocket. Theupper rotating disk 88 returns again to its normal position and thecycle may begin anew.

It may be seen that the inventive idea can be carried into practice invarious manners. It can also be readily realized that the invention maybe adapted to any desired turning angle since for this purpose it isonly necessary to provide the ratio between the card turner and itsdrive accordingly, and to position the axes of the removing rollers insuch Way that they are in parallel with the leading card edge after theturn of the card.

Iclaim:

l. Feeding and positioning apparatus for cards provided with controllingmarks and having top and bottom faces, the apparatus comprising, incombination, a card receiving member; first feeding means for feeding afirst group of said cards along a first feeding path in a first feedingdirection toward said receiving member; second feeding means for feedinga second group of said cards in a second feeding direction along asecond feeding path toward said receiving member, said second feedingmeans including feeding elements defining a portion of said secondfeeding path, said feeding elements being movable between an inoperativeposition and an operative position for feeding cards fed to said portionfurther along said second feeding path; card turning means located insaid portion of said second feeding path and being movable between aninoperative position and an operative position, said card turning meansbeing adapted to engage in said operative position cards fed to saidportion of said second feeding path for turning the cards through aselected angle about an axis transverse to said top and bottom faces,said selected angle corresponding to the angle between said first andsecond directions; and means for simultaneously moving said feedingelements to said inoperative position and said card turning means tosaid operative position and for simultaneously moving said feedingelements to said operative position and said card turning means to saidinoperative position.

2. Feeding and positioning apparatus for cards provided with controllingmarks and having top and bottom faces, the apparatus comprising, incombination, a card receiving member; first feeding means for feeding afirst group of said cards along a first feeding path in a first feedingdirection toward said receiving member; second feeding means for feedinga second group of said cards in a second feeding direction along asecond feeding path toward said receiving member, said second feedingmeans including feeding elements defining a portion of said secondfeeding path located in a plane, said feeding elements being movablebetween an inoperative position and an operative position located in theplane for feeding cards fed to said portion further along said secondfeeding path with said top faces on top and located substantially insaid plane; card turning means located in said portion of said secondfeeding path and being movable between an inoperative position and anoperative position located in said plane, said card turning means beingadapted to engage in said operative position cards fed to said portionof said second feeding path for turning the cards in said plane througha selected angle about an axis transverse to said top and bottom facesand to said plane, said selected angle corresponding to the anglebetween said first and second directions; and means for simultaneouslymoving said feeding elements to said inoperative position and said cardturning means to said operative position and for simultaneously movingsaid feed ing elements to said operative position and card turning meansto said inoperative position.

3. Feeding and positioning apparatus for cards provided with controllingmarks and having top and bottom faces, the apparatus comprising, incombination, a card receiving member; first feeding means for feeding afirst group of said cards along a first feeding path in a first feedingdirection toward said receiving member; second feeding means for feedinga second group of said cards in a second feeding direction along asecond feeding path toward said receiving member, said second feedingmeans including feeding roller elements defining a portion of saidsecond feeding path, said feeding roller elements being movable betweenan inoperative position and an operative position for feeding cards fedto said portion further along said second feeding path, said feedingroller elements rotating at a greater peripheral speed than the part ofthe second feeding means located outside of said portion of said secondfeeding path; card turning means located in said portion of said secondfeeding path and being movable between an inoperative position and anoperative position, said card turning means being adapted to engage insaid operative position cards fed to said portion of said second feedingpath for turning the cards through a selected angle about an axistransverse to said top and bottom faces, said selected anglecorresponding to the angle between said first and second directions; andmeans for simultaneously moving said feeding roller elements to saidinoperative position and said card turning means to said operativeposition and for simultaneously moving said feeding roller elements tosaid operative position and said card turning means to said inoperativeposition.

4. In a machine controlled by cards provided With controlling marks andhaving top and bottom faces and a position determining edge, incombination, a card receiving pocket; first feeding means for feeding afirst group of the cards in a feeding plane along a first feeding pathin a first feeding direction towards and into said receiving pocket withsaid edge of each card leading in feeding direction so that said cardsare deposited in said receiving pocket with said edges superimposed andsaid top faces on top; second feeding means for feeding a second groupof cards in a feeding plane in a second feeding direction along a secondfeeding path with said edges of said cards of said second group of cardsleading in said second feeding direction, said first and second feedingdirections defining a predetermined angle with each other; turning meansat the end of said second feeding path for turning the cards of saidsecond group about an axis transverse to said top and bottom faces andthrough an angle corresponding to said predetermined angle; and thirdfeeding means for feeding the thus turned cards of said second groupfrom said turning means into said receiving pocket so that said cards ofsaid second group of cards are deposited in said receiving pocket withsaid edges of the same superimposed on each other and on said edges ofsaid first group of cards and with said top faces on top.

5. In a machine controlled by cards provided with controlling marks andhaving top and bottom faces and a position determining edge, incombination, a card receiving pocket; first feeding means for feeding afirst group of the cards in a feeding plane along a first feeding pathin a first feeding direction towards and into said receiving pocket withsaid edge of each card leading in feeding direction so that said cardsare deposited in said receiving pocket with said edges superimposed andsaid top faces on top; second feeding means for feeding a second groupof cards in a feeding plane in a second opposite feeding direction alonga second feeding path with said edges of said cards of said second groupof cards leading in said second opposite feeding direction; turningmeans at the end of said second feeding path for turning the cards ofsaid second group about an axis transverse to said top and bottom facesand through an angle of and third feeding means for feeding the thusturned cards of said second group from said turning means into saidreceiving pocket so that said cards of said second group of cards aredeposited in said receiving pocket with said edges of the samesuperimposed on each other and on said edges of said first group ofcards and with said top faces on top.

6. In a machine controlled by cards provided with controlling marks andhaving top and bottom faces, in combination, a card receiving pocket;first and second feeding means for feeding cards with said top faces ontop in opposite feeding directions along first and second alignedfeeding paths toward and into said receiving pocket; and card turningmeans located in said first feeding path for turning fed cards throughan angle of 180 about an axis transverse to said top and bottom faces sothat said cards are deposited in said receiving pocket in correspondingpositions with said top faces on top.

7. Feeding and positioning apparatus for cards provided with controllingmarks and having top and bottom faces, the apparatus comprising, incombination, feeding means for feeding the cards along a feeding pathand including feeding elements defining a portion of said feeding pathlocated in a plane, said feeding elements being movable between ainoperative position and an operative position located in said plane forengaging and feeding cards fed to said portion further along saidfeeding path with said top faces on top and located substantially insaid plane; card turning means including a pair of rollers rotating inopposite directions about an axis transverse to said feeding path andbeing equally spaced from the longitudinal line of symmetry of saidfeeding path, and another pair of rollers cooperating with saidfirst-mentioned pair of rollers and rotating in opposite directions, atleast one of said pairs of rollers being movable between an inoperativeposition spaced from the other pair of rollers and an operative positionlocated in said plane, said pairs of rollers being adapted to engage insaid operative position the top and bottom faces of cards fed to saidportion of said feeding path for turning the cards through a selectedangle about an axis transverse to said top and bottom faces and to saidplane; and means for simultaneously moving said feeding elements to saidinoperative position and said one pair of rollers to Said operativeposition and for simultaneously moving said feeding elements to saidoperative position and said one pair of rollers in said inoperativeposition.

8. Feeding and positioning apparatus for cards provided with controllingmarks and having top and bottom faces, apparatus comprising incombination, feeding 9 means for feeding the cards along a feeding pathand including feeding elements defining a portion of said feeding pathlocated in a plane, said feeding elements including two pairs of topfeeding rollers, two shafts respectively connecting said pairs of topfeeding rollers and two pairs of cooperating bottom feeding rollers;support means supporting said shafts and said top feeding rollers formovement between an inoperative position spaced from said bottom feedingrollers and an operative position located in said plane for engaging andfeeding cards fed to said portion further along said feeding path withsaid top faces on top and located substantially in said plane; cardturning means located in said portion of said feeding path and includinga pair of top turning rollers rotating in opposite directions about anaxis transverse to said feeding path and being equally spaced from thelongitudinal line of symmetry of said feeding path, and a pair of bottomturning rollers cooperating with said pair of top rollers and rotatingin opposite directions, two shaft means respectively connecting said topturning rollers and said bottom turning rollers, each shaft meansincluding a sleeve and a shaft turnable in said sleeve, said supportmeans supporting the shaft means associated with said top turningrollers for movement between an inoperative position in which said topturning rollers are spaced from said bottom turning rollers and anoperative position located in said plane, said pairs of top and bottomturning rollers being adapted to engage in said operative position thetop and bottom faces of cards fed to said portion of said feeding pathfor turning the cards through a selected angle about an axis transverseto said top and bottom faces and to said plane; cam slide means mountedon said support and engaging said shaft. means associated with said topturning rollers and said shafts associated with said top feedingrollers, said cam slide means being movable between two positions formoving said top feeding rollers to said inoperative position and saidtop turning rollers to said operative position, and for moving said topfeeding rollers to said operative position and said top turning rollersto said inoperative position; drive means for rotating said feedingrollers and said turning rollers; and transmission means connecting saiddrive means with said slide cam means for moving said slide cam means atselected time intervals between said positions of the same.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein said transmission meansinclude lever means connected to said cam slide means; turnable cammeans engaging said lever means; and gear means connecting said drivemeans with said cam means.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein said cam slide means havea cam track of such shape that said turning rollers are held in saidoperative position until a card engaged by the same is turned through180.

11. Feeding and positioning apparatus for cards provided withcontrolling marks and having top and bottom faces, apparatus comprisingin combination, a card receiving member; first feeding means for feedinga first group of said cards along a first feeding path in a firstfeeding direction toward said receiving member; second feeding means forfeeding a second group of said cards in a second feeding direction alonga second feeding path toward said receiving member, said second feedingmeans including feeding elements defining a portion of said secondfeeding path located in a plane, said feeding elements including twopairs of top feeding rollers, two shafts respectively connecting saidpairs of top feeding rollers and two pair of cooperating bottom feedingrollers; support means supporting said shafts and said top feedingrollers for movement between an inoperative position spaced from saidbottom feeding rollers and an operative position located in said planefor engaging and feeding cards fed to said portion further along saidsecond feeding path with said top faces on top and located substantiallyin said plane; card turning means located in said portion of said secondfeeding path between said two pairs of top feeding rollers and said twopairs of bottom feeding rollers and including a pair of coaxial discshaving engaging faces parallel to said plane and being turnable througha selected angle about an axis transverse to said plane and to said topand bottom faces of said cards, said selected angle corresponding to theangle between said first and second directions, one of said discs beingmovable between an inoperative positon spaced from the other disc and anoperative position in which said faces are substantially located in saidplane for engaging said top and bottom faces of the cards; means forturning said discs through said selected angle for turning said cardsabout an axis transverse to said top and bottom faces; and meansconnected to said shafts of said top feeding rollers and to said onedisc for simultaneously moving said top feeding rollers to saidinoperative position and said discs to said operative position, and forsimultaneously moving said top feeding rollers to said operativeposition and said one disc to said inoperative position.

12. An apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein said shafts of saidtop feeding rollers are parallel and said selected angle is 13. Feedingand positioning apparatus for cards provided with controlling marks andhaving top and bottom faces, apparatus comprising in combination, a cardreceiving member; first feeding means for feeding a first group of saidcards along a first feeding path in a first feeding direction towardsaid receiving memher; second feeding means for feeding a second groupof said cards in a second feeding direction along a second feeding pathtoward said receiving member, said second feeding means includingfeeding elements defining a portion of said second feeding path locatedin a plane, said feeding elements including two pairs of top feedingrollers, two shafts respectively connecting said pairs of top feedingrollers and two pairs of cooperating bottom feeding rollers; supportmeans supporting said shafts and said top feeding rollers for movmentbetween an inoperative position spaced from said bottom feeding rollersand an operative position located in said plane for engaging and feedingcards fed to said portion further along said second feeding path withsaid top faces on top and located substantially in said plane; cardturning means located in said portion of said second feeding pathbetween said two pairs of top feeding rollers and said two pairs ofbottom feeding rollers and including a gripper means adapted to engagecards fed to said portion, said gripper means being turnable about anaXis transverse to said plane and to said top and bottom faces of saidcards; means for turning said gripper means through a selected angle inopposite directions for turning said cards about said selected angle andfor transferring the cards from one group of cooperating pairs of topand bottom rollers to the other group of cooperating pairs of top andbottom rollers, said selected angle corresponding to the angle betweensaid first and second directions; and means connected to said shafts ofsaid top feeding rollers and to said gripper means for simultaneouslyturning said gripper means and for moving said top feeding rollers tosaid inoperative position.

14. An apparatus as set forth in claim 13 wherein said shafts connectingsaid top feeding rollers are parallel and said selected angle is 180.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,217,092 Hopp Feb. 20, 1917 1,989,049 Youngberg Jan. 22, 1935 2,364,202Ford Dec. 5, 1944 2,369,794 Phinney et al. Feb. 20, 1945 2,697,514 StahlDec. 21, 1954

